Pakistan, Oct. 29 -- Israel has voted, but the ballot box seems to have left its political class with another headache. Even as Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the largest party in Tuesday's general election, his right-wing allies fell short of the 61 seats needed to govern. With most votes counted on Wednesday, his bloc was projected to secure 53 seats, against 48 for the principal opposition parties and 19 for Arab-led parties. Turnout reached 77.7 per cent, the highest in more than two decades. From the looks of it, Israelis came out in force, although the result has left both camps scrambling for a way forward.

It goes without saying that, as for Netanyahu, the result is a poor return on his campaign built around military trium...